Pram are a band formed in Birmingham, England in 1990.

The band orig… Read Full Bio ↴Pram are a band formed in Birmingham, England in 1990.

The band originally consisted of vocalist Rosie Cuckston, guitarist Matt Eaton, Sam Owen on bass, and drummer Andy Weir. Their first album "Gash" was self-released and sold by mail order and at gigs. The band attracted the attention of Too Pure Records (already home to Stereolab, Mouse on Mars and PJ Harvey), and between 1993 and 1995 the label released several increasingly sophisticated albums and EPs. Early recordings were a krautrock-influenced blend of rhythmic guitar, keyboards and percussion, with Cuckston's eerie vocals and lyrics dealing with depression, loneliness and the dark side of childhood. A trumpeter (credited only as "the Verdigris Horn") played on several tracks, including the quarter-hour In Dreams You Too Can Fly, on debut album "The Stars Are So Big...". Second album "Helium" (1994) featured increasing use of the sampler, and later recordings show a marked interest in "exotica". In 1995 Pram left Too Pure, and released a cassette compilation of early demos and live recordings, "Perambulations" - some of these recordings were added to the CD reissue of "Gash". Singles and EPs were recorded for a variety of labels (including Stereolab's Duophonic Records), before the band found a new home at Domino Records. The first album for Domino, "North Pole Radio Station", was originally recorded for Wurlitzer Jukebox Records, but the label shut down before it could be released. 1999's "Keep in a Dry Place and Away From Children" was the soundtrack to an animated film, and also featured a remix by Mouse on Mars – while never strictly an electronica group, Pram have been remixed by several artists ("Somniloquy" features remixes by fellow Brummie experimentalists Plone and Tele:funken amongst others), and remixed LFO and the Aphex Twin for the Warp Records 10th anniversary compilation. Following the 2008 EP "Prisoner of the Seven Pines", the band took a lengthy hiatus, with Cuckston abandoning music for academia.

In subsequent years, band members worked on other projects, both separately and together. After live performances together (without Cuckston) in 2017, the band released Across the Meridian in 2018 on Domino, featuring Owen (now on vocals as well as bass) and Eaton, plus Max Simpson on keyboards and Harry Dawes on brass.

Gravity
Pram Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Once I thought I was in love
But that was a mistake
For it was a warm feeling
Wrapped around me like a shawl
Learn to love the corners
And the angles of the world
To not love them you'll never live
The only peace is death.

Love isn't a glow or a song in the heart
It's bony fingers tugging through your hair
It's sharp hipbones bruising blue your thigh
It's saying something softly that goes unheard.

Love snarls up the patterns
Of everything you know
It doesn't send you off to space
But buries you instead
Love holds on to gravity
And gravity is love

To love another human is
A puzzle for the head.

Overall Meaning

The song Gravity by Pram delves into the complexities of love and our understanding of it. The lyrical content suggests that love is not just a feeling of warmth or a pleasant song in our hearts; rather it is something that is tangibly felt. The first stanza speaks of the initial thought of being in love, but later realizing it was a mistake. The warm feeling is compared to a shawl, which denotes a temporary and superficial covering. The ability to love every aspect of life inclusively, including the angles and the corners, is a crucial aspect to truly living. The lyric "to not love them you'll never live" highlights the importance of embracing all aspects of life.

The second stanza portrays love as a force that can bruise and hurt. Love is sharp and can leave physical, as well as emotional scars. Saying something that goes unheard might suggest the inability to communicate effectively or be heard, further emphasizing the frustration that could arise from love. The following lines signify love as an entity, capable of creating chaos and disrupting order. The last two lines summarize the entire song by saying "Love holds on to gravity, and gravity is love. To love another human is a puzzle for the head". This suggests that love is tangible, just like gravity, and it's not something that we can comprehend easily. Furthermore, it's a mystery that we must solve with the help of our minds.

Line by Line Meaning

Once I thought I was in love
I believed I was in love in the past

But that was a mistake
However, I realized that it was a wrong assumption

For it was a warm feeling
It was a sensation of comfort and happiness

Wrapped around me like a shawl
Which embraced me tightly like a piece of fabric

Learn to love the corners
Appreciate the less obvious and less appealing aspects of life

And the angles of the world
Even if they seem uncomfortable or difficult to understand

To not love them you'll never live
Ignoring them could prevent us from truly experiencing or appreciating life

The only peace is death.
Death is the ultimate relief from life's challenges and hardships

Love isn't a glow or a song in the heart
Love is not a superficial or fleeting emotion

It's bony fingers tugging through your hair
But rather something that can physically affect and unsettle you

It's sharp hipbones bruising blue your thigh
And leave you physically damaged or hurt

It's saying something softly that goes unheard.
Love can also have a softer and more subtle presence, such as unspoken words

Love snarls up the patterns
Love has the power to impact and disrupt the order or structure of life

Of everything you know
Including the things you thought you understood or had control over

It doesn't send you off to space
Love is not an escape from reality or your problems

But buries you instead
Instead, it can feel overwhelming and oppressive

Love holds on to gravity
Love has a strong force that keeps you grounded or focused

And gravity is love
Just as gravity has a powerful pull, love can have a strong and lasting impact

To love another human is
Loving another person is

A puzzle for the head.
Something that can be challenging to figure out or understand

Lyrics © Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Capitol CMG Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ALLEN, CAMPBELL, COLLEN, ELLIOTT, SAVAGE, WOODROFFE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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